Underwater
by Sakura702
Summary: Years. It had taken Ulysses years to build connections on the isle and finally get respect, but now because of some order from a pompous prince, he was being forced to go to an entirely new land where he will be powerless once again. With no skills that would help the other four with their plan, and no want to even help them, what's he to do?
1. Chapter One: Rotten to the Core

Disclaimer: I do not own Disney or Descendants. If I did I would be at least mildly rich and not be writing this.

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **Author's Note: I can't decide if I want to pair Ben with my OC because of Benlos and also that fact that people won't like it. Also the fact that Mal is supposed to change her mind about being evil mainly because of Ben. Art class just won't cut it. Maybe another love interest? I don't know. So can I get some suggestions? Also, there will be some minor changes in the dialogue and characters, cause butterfly effect. Before I forget, don't be offended by the third paragraph, it's just how the character is. That is not what I think of my lovely readers.**

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

? P.O.V

Twenty years ago, Belle married the Beast and they invited 20,000 of their closest friends,(Which begs the question, how many friends did they have in all?) Forgoing a honeymoon, Beast decided to unite all of the surrounding kingdoms instead (what an unromantic person, I like it). The Beast was then elected as the now named kingdom called the United States of Auradon.

His first official order was to round up all of the villains, sidekicks, basically everybody they 'good guys' deemed evil, and he stranded them on an island named the Isle of the Lost to with a magical barrier around it to make sure they stayed there. The Isle of the Lost is my home. It's rather boring with no internet, no magic, and more importantly no way out.

Now, I can see your curiosity is starting to stir, but to sate it you will have to wait even longer and just sit and watch like a good little guppy.

Narrator P.O.V

In an enormous castle, the image of the Isle of the Lost was reflected onto the glass panels of one of the many windows. Staring at the island through said window, the soon to be, king Prince Ben, was getting his measurements taken by a tailor with short white hair and rectangular black glasses. To make it easier for the tailor, the brunette was standing on top of a plain wooden box. That was the position he was in when his parents entered the room.

"How is it you're going to be king in a month? Why you're just a baby!" Bens father, King Adam exclaimed out in a humorous tone. His wife, Belle, smiled with her arm intertwined with her husbands and reprimanded her husband. "He's turning sixteen dear." Adam smiled at Belle and continued on with his claim. "Why that's still too young! Why I didn't make my first good decision until I was at least 42!" At the last part, the yellow-clad queen stared pointedly at her husband.

"Uh, you proposed to me at 28." She stated offended by her husband's statement. "Well, it was either you or a teapot." The former beast joked, but upon seeing the displeased look on his wife's face, apologized. Ben decided that now would be the best time to inform his parents of his decision. A decision that could change everything.

"Mom, Dad?" The two adults turned to stare at their now nervous looking son. "I've chosen my first official proclamation." With their interest peaked, the two parents attention was all on their son. "I've decided that the children on the Isle of the Lost be given a chance... to live here in Auradon." Ben hesitated at the end of the sentence but continued to stand strong. His mother, who had picked up a blue jacket, dropped the clothing while his father looked at him like he was crazy.

Ben stepped off of the box making the tailor upset. He then gestured to the very island that started the proclamation. "Every time I look off to the island I feel like they've been abandoned." "The children of our sworn enemies, living among us?" The current king questioned his son's common sense. The children of the most evil people in the world, living with them?

"Just a few at first, only the ones that need our help the most. I've already chosen them." Ben smiled while explaining how the proclamation would work. Belle was starting to understand the good in her son's decision. "Have you?" Adam moved forward intimidatingly until Belle touched his arm to calm him down and recalled what she had done in the past. "I gave you a second chance." At this, Adam released the tension he had unknowingly built up and stepped down. Belle decided to ask a very important question.

"Who are their parents?" Ben's confidence vanished into thin air but since he had gotten this far, there was no turning back. "Cruella De Vil, Jafar, Evil Queen, Ursula... and Maleficent." Adam quickly roared in refusal at the name of the last villain while the forgotten tailor scuttled out the door, the servants then closing the door, leaving the family of three alone. "Maleficent? She is the worst villain in the land," Adam rejected the idea once more.

"Dad just hear me out." Ben raised his voice, slightly pleading with his dad. "I will not hear it. Their parents are guilty of unspeakable crimes!" Ben's emotions started to bleed through into his voice. "Dad! Their children are innocent! Don't you think they deserve a shot at a normal life? Dad." Through his eyes, Ben was practically begging his dad to understand, and with his wife looking at him expectantly, he caved in.

"I suppose the children are innocent." Ben smiled brightly at him as did Belle. Adam started to leave while Belle stayed behind for a bit to give her opinion to her son. She straightened his color and beamed at him brightly and said, "Well done," then left with Adam. Ben smiled for a while then turned to stare at the Isle of the Lost, contemplating what would happen now. Would the proclamation have a good ending or a bad ending?

Pastavepastavepastavepastavepastavepastavepastavepastavepastavepastavepastavepastave- Italy! Shut up!

Ve?

Aw, you're just too cute! Here, have some pasta!

Ve, pasta! (Hetalia)

Ulysses P.O.V

I was currently residing on a tower that overlooked the entirety of the island with my ever faithful black fountain ink pen writing deliciously juicy ...information (*cough*blackmail*cough*) into the leatherback journal resting on my left thigh. With the bird's eye view, I was able to identify a flash of purple hair as my acquaintance, Mal, daughter of the Mistress of Evil herself, Maleficent.

One would think that the most devious of all villains would be able to produce an at least original name from her cranium, but alas, it seems that is not true. Villainy sure has become bleak if Maleficent is the most evil villain in the land. Her greatest scheme was just a petty spell against a small babe, nothing even worth batting an eye. She didn't even try to use it to take over the kingdom! It even took her sixteen years just to find the child. Number one rule in minions is only have a handful of them that you would trust with your life. If you don't then they're just annoying pieces of kelp.

Unfortunately, I am currently under her spawns small pale thumb, which is about as pleasing as pulling apart a particularly stubborn clam, but patience rewards those that wait. Just by being in her little gang it's given me access to a larger amount of connections allowing me to have better details on everybody in the barrier. Meaning when she gives her infernal signal to meet up with her and to cause chaos all around, I listen. It's just about the only thing that's entertaining enough when gathering data wasn't amusing enough for me anyway.

Speak of the fae and she shall appear, or at least her signal will. It seemed that the others got the signal as I saw Jay leaping from a ladder a few housetops aways from me, Evie strutting out from a crowd of mortals, and Carlos ducking in and out of alleyways. Tides I loved this location, I had a panoramic view, but I was safely hidden in the cool shadow of the small ruined water tower. While I would love to stay here for longer the time for me to leave has come. If I want to get any time in for tormenting others before enduring excruciating torture in the form of Mal and her friends, I was going to enjoy every last second.

Narrator P.O.V

Spray painting a rather impressive image of an intimidating Maleficent was a purple haired pixie-like girl in purple, green, and pink leather. With a few finishing touches to her masterpiece, she soon whipped around and started singing with an impish grin.

"They same I'm trouble,

they say I'm bad.

They say I'm evil,

that makes me glad."

Leaping down from a ladder was an Arabic male with a rust colored beanie over long straggly hair. A vest that mainly consisted of yellow leather was the most peculiar article of clothing that said male wore, making the average person cringe at his apparel. Passing by a graffiti painting that consisted of the genie version of Jafar, he soon joined in with the loud singing heard all around the small town on the isle.

"A dirty no good,

down to the bone.

Your worst nightmare,

can't take me home."

Soon enough, a royal looking blue leather clad girl starting singing along with the other two teenagers. With a forehead tiara placed snugly over her long flowing cobalt hair, she truly looked like she belonged inside of a gleaming castle instead of on a chaotic island. Disrupting a table of people by overturning their bowls as she was strutting on it as if it were a catwalk, she sang with no care for the people around her, letting her smooth notes fill the air.

"So I've got some mischief,

in my blood.

Can you blame me?

I never got no love."

Slipping out from the shadows of a building, a sharply dressed male with shocking ghostly white hair nonchalantly merged into a crowd of people. Walking calmly, he paused upon noticing a barrel full of tiny fish was left slightly out in the open. Taking note that it was for Ursula's Fish and Chips, the male casually tripped another teenager into colliding with the keg, making the fresh kill spill onto the dirty streets. Walking away as if nothing happened, he could only hear the whimpering of his victim and an inhuman growl from another. Softly singing under his breath as to not draw attention, he continued on his merry way.

"A heart that's shallow,

with eyes of steel.

I am so hollow,

I just can't feel."

Bolting out from a back street was a male with almost the same white hair as the one before, only this one had black roots and was rather scrawny in comparison. In a rather bizarre mixture of white, red, and black leather, he went unnoticed by the people around him due to his speed, enabling him to pickpocket unsuspecting prey. A rather precious find was a green apple which he swiped from a little girl. Swiftly taking a giant bite of the apple, he then tossed it back to the girl, who luckily caught it. All the while he was singing along to the same tune as the four others.

"They say I'm callous,

a low life hood.

I feel so useless,"

Then they all sang from across the island,

"Misunderstood!"

Both of the singing females caught up to the other and started to strut together in the middle of the street, for all passersby to see and quickly flee from.

"Mirror mirror on the wall,

who's the baddest of them all?

Welcome to my wicked world, wicked world."

The entire group then was able to join together in what seemed to be a community wash place after entering a tunnel and banging sticks on the walls, leaving haunting echoes of sinister laughter along with the sound of sticks striking metal. All five of the teens toppled over baskets of sullied clothing and also plucked drying linens from their drying racks. Immediately after causing chaos, the teens left as quickly as the arrived, leaving only confusion and damage as signs that they visited the area. Throughout the entire ordeal, the group was still singing along to their tune.

All

"I'm rotten to the core,(core)

rotten to the core.

I'm rotten to the core,(core)

who could ask for more?

I'm nothing like the kid next, like the kid next door.

I'm rotten to the (core), I'm rotten to the (core),

I'm rotten to the core."

After only mere minutes of being together, all five split up once again. The female attired in purple quickly made her way over to a widespread corner of the island filled with a plethora of people. Bypassing a girl with abnormal hair ornaments over a crystal ball, she spraypainted a purple M over a shower curtain attached to a bathtub, then pulled said curtain away to reveal a shocked straw-haired male.

"Call me a schemer,

call me a freak.

How can you say that?

I'm just, unique!"

Now in a marketplace of sorts, the Arabic teen swung himself on some wooden beams, then ascended down onto the ground, startling two other teens having a drink in a pot of some sort. Picking the pot up then gesturing to see if the two wanted any more of the liquid poured into their cups, the two nodded enthusiastically only for their faces to turn into outrage when the tanned male paid no heed to their agreement and hopped along, paying no heed to their words and rubbed the teapot.

"What me a traitor,

ain't got your back?

Are we not friends,

what's up with that?"

Confidently, the cobalt blue haired girl pranced into a shop full of scarves, currently manned by a male with tanned skin in velvet colored clothes. Flirtatiously smiling at the other, she snapped up a scarf on display and caught the entranced male into it. Proceeding to twirl it, she then disappeared into the forest of scarves, leaving a bewildered but mesmerized male.

"So I'm a misfit,

so I'm a flirt.

I broke your heart,

I made you hurt."

Walking inconspicuously with a mob of people, pale hands flitted from pocket to pocket, leaving none the wiser that anything was amiss. Shifting slightly so as to hide his prize, he quickly deposited the entirety of his bounty into his jacket's pocket, then tossed the useless wallets into a nearby fire in a garbage can, with people surrounding it seeking warmth from the brisk morning air. The only thing left to notice was a head of white hair fading into the crowd.

"They say my soul,

is black as ink.

I'll take a toll,

make them sink."

Leaping through the market, and kicking items off of the stalls that he landed on, the white-haired male with black roots was causing strife for sellers. At the end of the market, he knocked a large straw basket of apples down and then flipped the basket that was used for carrying the apples onto her head to blind the female seller then escaped on a rolling cart.

"The past is past,

forgive forget.

The truth is,"

All

"You ain't seen nothing yet!"

The two girls had once again gotten together and were in an abandoned warehouse. The three other males had also joined in another part of the warehouse and were playing with different objects.

"Mirror mirror on the wall,

who's the baddest of them all?

Welcome to my wicked world, wicked world."

The group of teens were together again and quickly traveled to an open area. Upon seeing the kids, most of the people vacated the area except for a few other teens who decided to join in on the singing and dancing.

All

"I'm rotten to the core,(core)

rotten to the core.

I'm rotten to the core,(core)

who could ask for more?

I'm nothing like the kid next, like the kid next door.

I'm rotten to the (core), I'm rotten to the (core),

I'm rotten to the core."

After the song was over the violet leather-clad female snatched a lollipop from a baby in a red wagon that was being pulled by their mother. Quickly, she showed off the candy to the crowd of teens surrounding her, who laughed and clapped at the deed. Suddenly though, after seeing something or someone, all of the crowd left except for the original five troublemakers. Seeming to know who it was, the violet-haired female turned around, face and posture obviously showing her irritation, before wiping the expression off and replacing it with a facade of a cheerful person.

"Hi, Mom." The most evil villain in all of the land, Maleficent, was in between two of her henchmen then pouted as if displeased with the female. "Stealing candy Mal? How disappointing." The enchantress spoke upon seeing the lollipop in her daughter's hands, the once proud feeling when stealing the candy disappearing. "It was from a baby," Mal replied, hoping to appease her mother and finally make her proud.

"That's my evil little girl!" Maleficent then snatched the swirl lollipop from her daughter and spat on it, then proceeded to place the sweet under her armpit. She threw it to her henchman then gave them an order. "Give it back to the dreadful creature." The minions did as she commanded while Mal whined at her mom. "Mom!"

"It's the deeds Mal that make the difference between mean and truly evil!" Maleficent got louder at the end while waving at the mother of the baby who had the lollipop. "Oh! There's news, I buried the lead. You four have been chosen to attend a different school. In Auradon!"

Ulysses P.O.V

By Poseidon, had the fairy finally gone mad from being exiled onto this miserable little island? There must at least be some water in my ears if I heard her say I was going to have to attend school at that gosh-forsaken Auradon. It has taken me years to finally build up enough connections and power on this wretched isle. Going to that school it would be like fighting the tide to try and even think of building a connection there or even gaining any power with all of those entitled shrimps.

It seemed I wasn't the only one who refused to go as everybody else that was left tried to flee, but of course, that accursed fairies slow-witted goons were able to get ahold of us all, but I was able to get at least a few feet more than the others when I was captured. Mal, the only one to not try and escape quickly whirled around after watching us run and shouted out, "What! I'm not going to a school filled to the brim with prissy pink princesses," at her mother, who looked decidedly bored and not willing to deal with any of her daughter's talkback.

Seeming to realize something at the princesses part of Mal's denial, Evie stepped forward beaming a quite blinding smile, and added, "And perfect princes!" A quick glare at the blue royal wiped the smile off of her face. "E, not helping." Well, seems one of us is excited to be leaving all that we've known only to be thrown with the very people that sent us here in the first place. How wonderful.

"Yeah, and I don't do 'uniforms' unless they're leather, you feel me?" Jokingly, Jay nudged Carlos and tried to get a fist bump, but was ignored. "I read somewhere that they allow dogs in Auradon. Mom says they're vicious pack animal that eats bad little boys." It seems that everybody is adding their own two cents to this argument. How quaint. I'm not much of a bag-mouth, but it seems to be amusing.

"Might I add that there is no real reason for me to go as all of my connections would not matter there making my presence unneeded and overall taxing to deal with." After finishing with my argument, all I was met with were blank stares. "You, you're the unwanted runt of the Ursula, correct? Shut it." Oh, well isn't she just a koi, making such lovely compliments about my parentage. If she weren't the self-assigned ruler of this isle I would have poisoned her supply of rotten cider long ago, she was at least better than my birth giver.

"Anyway, Mom we're not going!" By now shouldn't it be obvious that her mother was not going to listen to her arguments? "You're thinking small pumpkin, it's all about world domination!" What is it with villains and always dominating the world, I would rather not have to deal with all of these filthy worms. "Knuckleheads!" Maleficent's shout caught my attention, as she turned around clearly signaling for all of us to follow her to her run-down castle.

Italy:pastavepastavepastavepastavepastavepastavepastavepastavepastavepastavepastavepastavepastavepastavepastave-

Germany: NEIN! No pasta!

Italy: But Doitsu!

Germany: It is unhealthy for you to have pasta everyday Italy. From now on eat this.

(Really plain and ugly looking food)

Italy: NOOO!

 **Author's Note: So, I've actually just had this on my computer for a while and I did some major editing over Ulysses's personality. He's more sardonic and malicious than he was before he was more sarcastic and awkward. I hope you liked this and if you liked this you can favorite this story, or even add a comment, it would be much appreciated! Bye!**


	2. Chapter Two: Sibling Rivalry

Disclaimer: I do not own the Descendants movie that was created by Disney and is also owned by Disney. I also do not own any images used for this as I probably just found them with some searching on the internet.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Author's Note: I was only able to catch a bit of Descendant's 2 on TV, and with the help of my sister, we decided that instead of ignoring it, we should try and format it into the story as sibling rivalry and whatnot would add to the story. Sorry if it is a bit disjointed or awkward though. It's not like I'm a pro at this though.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ulysses P.O.V

After a few minutes time of traveling on foot, we finally arrived at the stone castle. Presiding inside the throne room (which had been turned into a lounge and a kitchen) were the five most vile villains in the land. In other words, our predecessors. Unfortunately for me, if my 'mother' being there was enough, there was also the addition of my, as painful as it is, sister, Uma.

Sitting nonchalantly on her worn down thrown while filing her nails, Maleficent gave us her orders. "You will go to Auradon, and you will find Fairy Godmother, and you will bring me back her magic wand. Easy peasy."

In what land or ocean was there any way of getting the most powerful magical wand in existence easily without troubles? Especially when the great majority of us didn't even have magic (and most importantly intelligence)? I simply cannot understand why people must downplay or exaggerate such extreme plans. It serves no purpose to anybody besides making people completely unprepared for their task or even makes them a paranoid mess. Quite troublesome to deal with, especially when you were one of the people involved in completing the task.

"What's in it for us," Mal asked. Now that is something that could make me have a great deal of interest in actually contributing to the task.

"Matching thrones, hers and hers crowns, " Maleficent responded, confident in her side of the deal. But what use would I have for some silly little trinket? I wanted respect and power, some flimsy metal holding pretty but useless gems would only get me laughed at on a good day and outright shamed on another. With my company though, I was only allowed to let my eye roll, lest I offend what was basically villain royalty. It's wise to know who you can afford to disrespect, but you still have to be wary. Anybody could backstab you if you're not careful.

Surprisingly, for once in his life Carlos spoke up to Maleficent. "I think she meant us," he uttered while also gesturing to the four of us. Everybody nodded in agreement with him, albeit cautiously.

Also nodding but with a determined scowl, Mal turned to face her mother only for her to ignore the question and move closer to Mal. "It's all about you and me baby." Wow, way to be subtle about how you only really care about yourself, and by extension your spawn, typical. "Do you enjoy watching innocent people suffer?" What a smooth way to avoid the topic, not. "Oh, yeah who doesn't?" I myself prefer to make anybody suffer, as long as somebody is miserable, innocent or not. "Well then get me the wand! And then you and I can see all that and so much more! And with that wand and my scepter, I will be able to bend both good and evil to my will!"

Noticing the fact that Maleficent only said her will, the Evil Queen piped up and said, "Our will," and the other villains nodded along. "Our will, our will," Maleficent corrected, "And if you refuse, you're grounded for the rest of your life missy." Mal tried to protest but Maleficent only shushed her and let her eyes turn an acidic green. For joy, let the battle of dominance and imminent defeat cycle once more.

It seems all the others knew what was going to happen as they all walked away to their respective parents, barring me, presumably to chat with their parents over the newest schooling arrangements that were made for us without our knowledge. It was quite a nuisance to have to even see Ursula and Uma within fifteen feet of my own body, the former because we had an unspoken agreement to not speak to each other, and the latter because she saw fit to constantly rub in my face that I was the 'useless runt'.

Of course, after only a few moments of tense silence between the two, Maleficent won. For the thousandth time. "I win!" Now isn't that just shocking? It's not like she doesn't win every single time with the ease of a shark catching a bleeding fish. No matter, I was going to spend the next few minutes planning an escape route and avoiding Ursula (and Uma).

You might be wondering why Ursula and I had the unspoken agreement to not speak to each other, and it all stems from two simple words. Genes, and biology.

Normally, when a cecaelia (A/N: a being that is half octopus and half human) offspring hatches from their eggs, in simpler terms the cecaelia is so weak from the process of caring for them and ensuring that they live that they are severely weakened and starving, they then die. Luckily for Ursula, due to her originally being a mermaid and only becoming a cecaelia from an accident including dark magic, the cecaelia instincts did not overtake her.

Meaning she wasn't as concerned over her offspring surviving and mostly took care of only herself, caring only the bare minimum for the slowly developing eggs which were Uma, and myself. Upon our hatching, my 'mother' only felt one emotion at our birth. Rage.

There were multiple factors in why she was furious. Including but not limited to the fact that she had to take care of someone besides herself, and also mainly my entire existence. Unlike Uma, my physical characteristics did not resemble Ursula, but the weak mortal male who had impregnated her.

Instead of having a dark complexion to my skin, I was almost as fair as my hair, the only trait besides my silver eyes that I shared with my living relatives. Needless to say, I was unwanted. Uma was to be the one she molded after herself, and I the disdained parasite clinging to her tentacles like a seahorse to seaweed.

It was only the fact that she didn't want any of her spawn to be seen as weak that she kept me, as that would reflect badly on her to the other villains. That competitiveness of hers wasn't enough to convince her to keep me forever though.

By the time I was seven years old she deemed me competent enough to care for myself and sent me off to the streets. She was at least pitiful enough to let me keep the ring that allowed the wearer to be in their human form.

Due to that small act of kindness though I thought she might have still loved me and tried to reconcile with her, but I stopped at the age of ten, upon which we came upon the agreement to never speak to each other, as we both held an ocean full of contempt for the other.

Avoiding that portion of the room and the others, I still listened into their conversations in hopes of gaining some valuable information.

"Evie! My little evil-ette in training!" Ugh, my ears. It's surprising how the former fairest of them all sounded just like a seagull. "You just get yourself a prince with a castle that has a mother-in-law wing. And lots and lots of mirrors!" The two blue-clad females chimed the last part together, smiling in an almost dream-like manner.

I will never get their obsession with mirrors. At least with the Magic Mirror it knew and saw all, then reported it to the queen making it useful in many aspects, but staring at a reflective surface for hours on end? There were no benefits and it stopped one from doing more important tasks, such as terrorizing a kingdom. If one of the supposed 'greatest villains of all time' had kelp for brains, I could only imagine what the people of Auradon were like.

From the various propaganda posters and rare television series from Auradon, they were all overly optimistic and close-minded. It would be like staring straight into the sun to try and talk sense into them. Painful and pointless.

Just thinking about future dealings with those idiots gave me a headache. It was obvious that the current people in charge of Auradon were fools. A clue to their idiocy is the fact that they are currently trying to integrate the children of the land (and oceans) worst villains into a school in Auradon full of princesses and princes, i.e. the children of our parent's sworn enemies. That is literally inviting a pod of sharks into a school of minnows (A/N: Get it? School? Yeah? I is funny!).

Furthermore, they decided that to punish all of the villains they would resurrect them from the dead and place them on an island, instead of keeping them dead which would mean they could never do any evil again. What a bunch of jellyfish (A.N: See what I did there? Eh? Cause, like, jellyfish have no brains and stuff…). It's best to let sleeping sharks float than awaken them once more.

"Aw, if it isn't my favorite little runt 'Useless Ulysses'. Are you here to see your big sister go to Auradon while you stay here and rot," Uma drawled while strutting forward towards my now tense form. Pushing myself off from the wall I was leaning against, I towered over her small figure, easily being the tallest by at least five inches. "Well, feel free to have at it, and while you're over there I hope you wouldn't mind me taking over your little pirate crew," I declared with a sneer forming on my face. "Especially the red one, what was his name? Ah yes, Harry. He's the one with the adorable little accent, correct?"

Snarling, Uma lowered her hand to her side to grab at her cutlass and seeing this motion I started for the two daggers hidden beneath my jacket, but we were stopped by a loud banging sound. Both of us turned to the source of the noise and discovered that the cause of the sound was Maleficent banging her staff against the ground.

"Enough of your squabbling! It's obvious that you aren't going Shrimpy. Unlike the runt here, you are still Ursula's daughter, meaning you could go against our plan and give your mother the wand instead. Don't think I don't know what you two witches were planning. So obviously he's going," her left hand waved Ursula and Uma off, the two begrudgingly leaving after being glared at by the rest of the big five villains.

"Haven't I already said this before, I'm not going to that idiotic-," before I could get another word in, a tanned hand covered my mouth and I was pulled towards a muscled body, which I quickly concluded was Jay's. "Aha, you're always such a kidder Ulie! Why don't we go ahead and pack your stuff," before I could suffer any further humiliation by being dragged away, I freed my right arm and quickly pulled out one of my daggers, which I pointed towards Jay's face.

"Touch me one more time and I swear I will cut you with this," all I got in response to that was a raised eyebrow and an over-exaggerated yawn. "Do you really think a skinny knife is going to scare me," he questioned in disbelief, "No, but a dagger made from a stingray's barb will (A/N: Yay! A reference to Ulysses' namesake!), now back off."

Jay swiftly released my remaining arm and backed off with his arms raised. "Okay, poisonous knife." My hand that was holding the weapon was then pulled down by a pale hand clad in a single fingerless glove.

"That's enough, we're going to Auradon. Go get your stuff. Unless you want us to drag you there without any of your things."

Snapping her fingers, a few of Maleficent's goons came from a nearby room and stood semi-awkwardly near the door frame. Begrudgingly, I snarled out a "Fine." Walking away towards the door, I was stopped when Maleficent said, "And if you try to hide and escape going, we will find you. So don't try it."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ulysses P.O.V

Traveling by rooftop to my hidden 'home', if I could call it that, took less time than usual as I was feeling quite peeved towards the world in general. Then again, when was I ever not. My home was really just a shelter as it was just a single sheet of metal held up by a few blocks of wood with some sheets of fabric acting as the walls. It was a simple and falling apart hovel, but it's all I've had for almost a decade now.

I went over to a small corner that was covered in trash and multiple other objects and pulled out a ratty bag filled with my clothes and other belongings. When one lives on the streets of the isle, one learns to hide everything they have lest they lose it all to thieves.

Altogether it took me ten minutes to retrieve my belongings and go back to the castle, where a sleek black limousine was parked. A curious crowd was hovering near the expensive car, only kept at bay by the fact that the four greatest villains on the isle and their children were there, thankfully no Ursula or Uma in sight. Holding a small grudge for the others, I wanted to avoid their 'companionship' for a while more, so I waited until all of the VK's were piled into their car with their bags and then made my way down from the rooftop I was perched on.

A few of Maleficent's goons were roaming around, seeming to be searching for something which likely meant that the fairy had noticed my lack of presence. Before any of the thick-headed thugs could spot me and make a grab at me, I made a dash for the limousines open door and slipped in, shutting the door behind me.

"Well, it's nice of you to join us."

Directing a glare at the smirking violet-haired female, I settled down into the only remaining spot which was between the door and Jay, then set my bag onto the ground. A "The jackals have landed," was heard from the front of the car before the vehicle started moving forwards. Multiple shouts came from the outside, which was all from the other fours parents, demands for them to bring something back. How pathetic. Glad I wasn't as wound around my parent's fingers as those four were.

When we were a further distance away, Jay and Carlos immediately dove into the various treats lined up in front of them, while Mal and Evie started conversing with each other.

Having no desire to join the two females in their conversation, I grabbed a small jar near me that was full of what seemed to be little balls of some strange brown substance. Cautiously, I took a tiny nibble of one of the treats and was pleasantly surprised by the rich and bitter taste of the covering. Taking a more sizable bite, I was intrigued to find a liquid inside of the bittersweet, along with a circular red object. Together, it was quite delicious.

Not knowing when I would have another chance to eat something, especially something as delectable as this, I discreetly placed the jar into my bag. My feelings of delight quickly vanished when the other four started screaming and clinging onto each other which unfortunately included me. It would be putting it kindly that I was displeased by the sudden turn of events.

"It's a trap," was all I caught before I noticed the limousine was on the broken bridge and looked to be headed off the road and into the water.

Knowing that I could just take off my ring and turn into my cecaelia form, which could obviously breathe in water and allow me to escape easily, I wasn't worried. Although that didn't mean I wasn't still annoyed at the screaming and clinging teenagers I was with. As I was the only one who wasn't currently screaming their lungs out with their eyes shut, I was able to see the glittering golden bridge that appeared after the driver pressed a button. The wonders magic could do. It made one wonder how powerful Maleficent really would be with both her staff and the wand. Probably too troublesome to deal with, that's for sure. If I had her favor though, she could also be a powerful ally…somehow I doubted I would ever be able to gain Maleficent as an actual ally.

My ears started ringing from the abuse wrought upon them, but luckily, the four quickly noticed the lack of impact with the ocean, so they opened their eyes and saw that they were now smoothly traveling on a golden bridge. Thankfully this also included them hastily letting go of each other. Especially Jay, who apparently thoughts clinging to him was a better alternative than clinging to Carlos. Disgusting. Couldn't the other boy attempt to wash his clothes at least once a month? He smelled as if he were rolling around in the alleyways for years.

"Hey, did this little button just open up the magic barrier," Mal demanded of the driver who calmly looked back at the group (mostly) confused teenagers.

"No, this one opens the magic barrier," he explained while gesturing to a button on the limousine then stated, "That one opens my garage. And this button..." The driver then clicked on another button that slowly raised up a black barrier between him and us villains kids. Good, I didn't want to deal with more Auradonians than I had to.

Mal had a small look of shock on her face which quickly transformed into a smirk. "Okay. Nasty. I like that guy." Why was her definition of evil so easy to please?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ulysses P.O.V

After the whole bridge incident, the others continued what their previous actions, with the addition of Jay starting to steal everything that wasn't bolted down (and even then it wasn't really stopping him). I didn't know how long it would take to arrive at Auradon, so I pulled out my leatherback journal from a hidden pocket in my jacket as well as my fountain pen, both from a lucky search in the trash bins. It didn't take me long before I started writing down some of the new information I had managed to learn this morning from our earlier excursion.

Too absorbed in my writing, I didn't notice the snickers coming from Jay. "Dude, you have a diary?" My left eyebrow quirked up while my lips curled down from their neutral position. "For your information. This is not a diary-," before I could continue, Jay scoffed and muttered, "Yeah, sure. And I have blue hair." My lips turned from a slight frown into a scowl. "Let's see, Jay, Jay," flipping through the pages in my book, I stopped when I saw the Arabic teenagers name. "Ah, here it is. Jay Damoola."

"On September 14, 2008, Jay Damoola fell asleep in Gothel's class. After being discovered by Gothel, in his dazed state, he asked why 'an ugly old banshee was teaching the class'. For his punishment, he was forced to...wow, what a shock this is. Jay Damoola kissed-," once again I was interrupted but this time by a muscular tan hand covering my mouth.

"Okay, okay! I get it! It's actually your little blackmail book!"

Seeing as my point had gotten across, I was obviously not going to release any of my information any more than I needed to so I expected Jay to remove his hand from over my mouth, but when he didn't I raised my eyebrow at him and he hastily pulled away his hand.

"Aw, come on. Aren't you going to say more," Mal asked, but all I did was shake my head. Disappointed, she pursed her lips and folded her arms over her chest. "Whatever, it's not going to be of any use here anyway." With her attention diverted to plotting how to steal the wand once again, I was able to continue to record the information from this morning I had managed to find.

Author's Note: Yay! Another chapter bites the dust, while it's not as long as the other one, I thought that it would be good to end there and start the next chapter off at the scene where the five arrive at Auradon so yeah! Also, I'm sorry that I haven't really been updating because I haven't really been able to find a source to watch Descendants on and I finally found one, so that's great. Unfortunately, it's my tv I have to watch it on so I won't really be able to watch the movie and pause it and stuff, cause my family would not like that. Anyway, that's it, have a nice day/night/whatever!


	3. Chapter Three: Arrival at Auradon

Disclaimer: As I always say, I do not own Descendants, Disney owns that. And also I found all of the clothes on Google Images and I used Pic Collage to make the image, so I don't really own it, own it.

 **Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **Author's Note: So I have decided to pair Ben with Ulysses, and I've got most of the plot figured out, but it will take a few more tweaks and such to make the story more smooth. If you don't like stuff like that then you can leave, but if you actually enjoy it, well then you're welcome to stay to your heart's content! Anyway (I say that a lot), onto the story! P.S. My lovely sister is my editor, so without her help, the quality of my fanfictions would be much lower.**

 **Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Narrator P.O.V

Approximately ten minutes had passed when the limousine finally arrived at Auradon Prep. The entrance to the school, had a light and dark grey sign with a blue trim and bright blue lettering, saying 'WELCOME TO AURADON PREP: Goodness doesn't get any better."

Once further onto the school grounds, there were dozens of people cheering and waving little flags in their hands. Some were holding welcome signs with a bright smile on their face; however, that all paled in comparison to the crowd of people in front of the school wearing blindingly bright blues and yellows, holding what seemed to be silver instruments and playing an increasingly annoying tune.

The car finally came to a stop in front of the band and the driver stepped out of the car and opened the left door of the limousine. Immediately, a white-haired teenager practically leaped out of the car and was immediately followed by a black and white-haired male that fell, clutching onto a dark blue piece of cloth that was also being held onto by a significantly larger male.

At the highly comedic scene, the band slowly started to stop playing, which left the sound of shouting all the more clear to bystanders.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ulysses P.O.V

It felt like the gods had finally taken pity on me when the car had stopped and the doors were opened. In the ten minutes, it took to arrive at the school, the inside of the car had quickly turned into a mess. Jay and Carlos started fighting over who got to keep what objects in the car, and both were shouting and constantly bumping into me, disturbing my writing and causing there to be ugly streaks of black ink on the frail yellow pages.

Needless to say, I could not get out of the car fast enough. Once I was out of the car Carlos fell out onto the ground while basically playing tug-0-war with Jay over a piece of blue fabric. Taking about five steps away from the two, without the screaming right next to my ear I could hear multiple footsteps approaching us.

The crowd of people stepped away to make room for a smiling lady in a cornflower blue dress, a girl in a gold and pink dress, and a male in a dark blue outfit. I could easily guess who the male was- as his face was on the few posters on the isle that everybody liked to vandalize once in a while. Upon noticing the arrival of the three people, Mal lightly licked Carlos and whispered, "Guys, guys, guys! We have an audience." Trying to hide the obvious fact that he was stealing, Jay charismatically said, "Just cleaning up!"

The older brown-haired woman gave an awkward smile. "Leave it like you found it! And by that, I mean just leave it," she said, which was clearly directed at Jay, who reluctantly threw the objects in his hands back into the car. "Hello, foxy." And that was my cue to stop paying attention to Jay and more to the male who brought us here. Prince Benjamin.

He seemed to be rather anxious at our arrival, but overall brimming with hope. How disgusting. Seeming to notice my staring, he directed his attention to me and was noticeably confused over my glare. Tilting his head to the side, his eyebrows scrunched up and his face portrayed what I would assume puppy dog eyes are.

Raising an eyebrow at how his entire image went from a prince to a puppy, I directed my attention back to Mal talking only to have to hold myself back from slapping my forehead at her obviously suspicious behavior.

While I hate to admit that she was rather good at plotting, saying the words 'magic wand' twice is a bit disconcerting considering the fact that we are villains, kids. Caught up in my thoughts, I wasn't paying attention to the conversation until the blue-clad prince stepped forward. "It's so good to finally meet you all. I'm Ben-" "Prince Benjamin, soon to be king," the brown-haired girl clinging to his arm interrupted.

Letting out a gasp of delight, Evie breathily whispered, "You had me at the prince. My mom's a queen, which makes me a princess." Although it was all that Evil Queen taught her to want, the whole get a prince was becoming tiring. With a tense smile, the brown-haired female countered, "The evil queen has no royal status here and neither do you." Hmm, who knew people in Auradon actually had it in them to be cruel? It was oddly disturbing, yet charming.

"As marvelous as it is to hear about everybody's royal status in Auradon, shouldn't we continue our introductions?" At my words, Fairy Godmother gave me a beaming smile. "Why thank you for getting us back on track! Now, this is Audrey and she and Ben are going to show you all around, and I'll see you tomorrow. The doors of wisdom are never shut," her arms swung out, almost hitting Ben and Audrey, "But the library hours are from 8:00 to 11:00. And as you may have heard, I have a little thing about curfews."

Once finished with her speech, she gave a farewell wave and left.

Prince Benjamin started to walk towards the five of us. "It is so, so, so good to finally me…," upon reaching Jay, he held out his hand only to receive a light punch to his chest. "-meet you all." Not being too fazed by the punch, he shared a smile and laugh with Jay. He continued to go down the line while still saying his speech.

"This is a momentous occasion, and one that I hope will go down in history…" When he shook Carlos' hand, he noticed the brown substance on his hand. "Is that chocolate?"

Moving in front of me he held out his hand for me to shake. Reluctantly I took his hand and shook it, with a noticeable look of discomfort on my face. "As the day our two peoples began to heal." Restraining the urge to snort at his overdramatic behavior, all I ended up doing was rolling my eyes. "Or the day that you showed five people where the bathrooms are," Mal loudly mocked, with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "A little bit over the top," he questioned. "A little more than a little bit."

"Well, so much for my first impressions." The two shared a small laugh, at which Audrey appeared to get more protective of her so-called 'boyfriend'. "Hey! You're Maleficent's daughter, aren't you? Yeah, you know what? I totally do not blame you for your mother trying to kill my parents and stuff. Oh, my mom's aurora. Sleeping-" "Beauty," Mal interrupted. "Yeah, I've heard the name." It was impossible not to know the name when Maleficent seethed about the princess-n0w-queen for almost the entirety of a day.

"You know, and I totally do not blame your grandparents for inviting everyone in the whole world but my mother to their stupid christening," she punctuated the last two words. "Water under the bridge?" Poseidon, can her smile get any faker? "Totes!" Apparently, it can. Coughing to break the tense atmosphere, Ben asked with a smile on his face, "So, how about a tour?"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ulysses P.O.V

Leading us to the front of the school, Prince Benjamin began explaining the school's history. "Auradon prep, originally built over 300 years ago and converted into a high school by my father when he became king." Stopping the group next to a metal statue of his father, he clapped his hands which caused the statue to transform from a human to a beast, which made Carlos leap in fear and into Jay's arms.

"Carlos, It's okay. My father wanted his statue to morph from beast to man to remind us that anything is possible." That was something worth writing down. I took out my journal and my pen that started to write down the information. "Oh! Are you writing down notes? Wow, you're really studious aren't you?" I suppose it could be put that way. If by studious you meant constantly calculating every person and object around me, yes, I was studious.

"Come to think of it, I haven't really caught your name. What is it?" Hm, I hadn't really noticed I had yet to say my name. "My name is Ulysses. A pleasure to meet you, Prince Benjamin." His eyes brightened upon hearing my name. "Really? Your name is Ulysses, like Odysseus? That's amazing!" Being named after a mortal that was foolish enough to lay with a sea witch, then was killed by his own son with a weapon made from a creature of the sea, amazing? There is no way I can ever see that as amazing.

"...Quite." There were a few seconds of silence where it seemed that he was waiting for me to say something else, but as I didn't feel the need or want to, we continued on with our tour. As we were moving away from the statue, I could hear the timid clapping of what I can only assume was Carlos attempting to make the statue revert back to its human form.

"So you guys have a lot of magic here in Auradon? Like wands and things like that," Mal asked once we entered the school. At least she was starting to be more subtle when it came to retrieving information. "Yeah, it exists of course, but It's pretty much retired. Most of us here are just ordinary mortals."

"Who happen to be kings and queens," quipped Mal. Smiling coyly, Audrey wrapped Prince Benjamin's arms around her shoulders. "That's true. Our royal blood goes back hundreds of years." Although that is true for Audrey, there were many students, who to my knowledge had only one parent born a royal, or none. Along with a number of other so-called students here. Say for example the offspring of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jasmine, etc.

Prince Benjamin appeared to be uncomfortable by the public show of affection, and looking around, he let out a sigh of relief and yelled out, "Doug! Doug, come down." A small brown haired male in a band uniform came down from the stairs. "This is Doug. He's going to help you with your class schedules and show you the rest of the dorms. I'll see you later, okay? And If there is anything you need, feel free to-" "-ask Doug," Audrey interrupted. Again.

"And if we do need your assistance, where are we supposed to find you?" If I were to become, 'friends', with Prince Benjamin it would be easier to build connections to use here in Auradon. "Um, I'll be around, but I could come check on you later tonight if you need help settling in." Smiling once again, the brightness of it made me wince slightly. "I'll... keep that in mind."

"Okay Bennyboo, let's go." Grabbing his arm, Audrey dragged Prince Benjamin away from the six of us, but before he was completely gone from our view, he turned his head back and mouthed, 'See you later.' "Ha. Hi, guys. I'm Dopey's son. As in dopey, doc, bashful, happy, grumpy, sleepy, and…" When Doug caught sight of Evie, he stopped talking and breathed out a "Heigh-ho." Noticing the effect her presence had on the small male, Evie walked forward and smiled flirtatiously. "Evie. Evil Queen's daughter."

Snapping out of his daze, Doug looked towards a paper and started rambling. "Okay. So about your classes, I, uh, put in the requirements already... the history of woodsmen and pirates, safety rules for the Internet, and, uh, remedial goodness 101." At the last subject, he started trailing off but we caught what he said. "Let me guess. New class?" It wasn't really surprising when one thought about it.

"Come on, guys, let's go find our dorms." Leading us up the stairs, we were already at the top when Doug let out, "Oh, uh, yeah, your dorms are that way, guys." Now, why couldn't he have said that before we went up the stairs so we didn't waste our precious time and energy? All of us were embarrassed, but we didn't let it show. Going back down the stairs, I heard Doug start naming all of his uncles and dad but being stumped when it came to the seventh dwarf.

"Sneezy," Carlos said while passing by Doug. Finally having his answer, Doug led us to our rooms. First, he led us to a side of the school that had an...interesting abundance of the color pink. He pointed out the room the girls were staying in then immediately started leading Carlos, Jay, and I to our dorms. Apparently, he was in a hurry as he had to finish an essay concerning the properties of gold and he needed to finish it by midnight.

Once we were at the boy's dorm, Doug said two different room names. "So since there are three of you, one is going to have a room all to themselves. I believe that it's Ulysses who is staying by himself. If you'd rather switch your rooms you can go ahead and do that, just inform me, Ben or another staff member so we can record that information. Now I really gotta go, sorry! I'll probably see you guys tomorrow, so if you can save your questions till then that'll be great! Anyway, bye! I had to leave five minutes ago." Practically flying down the hall, Doug left our sight in a total of five seconds.

There's at least one pro so far coming to Auradon Prep. My very own room. How exciting. "Well, I see no problem with the arrangement. Unless perhaps you two appreciate staying up till three or being woken up at varying hours in the night. If so, by my guest." Both shook their heads. "Alright. I will see you two later tonight." Walking over to room 143, I turned the bronze door handle and opened the door.

Aesthetically speaking, it wasn't unpleasant to the eyes. The theme of the room seemed to be a plaid pattern that consisted of navy blue, emerald green, and a dark yellow. I found the pattern to be tackier than anything, but it was better than my former hovel.

Seeing as I would be exploring the school, I would need to find the key for the bedroom, to lock up. Normally, I would take further steps to ensure my possessions were safe, but the only ones here who wouldn't be deterred by the lock were the VK's, and they wouldn't be able to find anything of importance, as the only thing I owned that was valuable was my book, and as a precaution it was always on my person.

In a few minutes, I was finally able to find a golden key in the drawer of the nightstand.

Now that I was assured that my belongings would be safe, I could explore and record the layout of the building for future references.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ulysses P.O.V

There were not many people straggling in the halls to my surprise, but anyone I did see quickly vacated the area with a frightened expression. Although I was pleased with the reaction, it would be troublesome later if I was trying to be subtle while extracting information, and my targets ran away before I could even start questioning them.

This was not the isle, where you could just intimidate or threaten a person into submission. People here were much softer and wouldn't hesitate to deposit me back onto the isle out of fear. I needed to gain more information about the people here. For that though, I would need to build up a reputation as a 'safe' person.

To do that would be difficult if I only associated myself with the other VK's, and I highly doubt I could find a person willing to 'befriend' me. The students here either feared me or detested my very existence.

As much as I hated to admit it, I was cornered.

Besides the fact that I don't have any connections to the people of Auradon, it is highly improbable I would even be able to gather enough useful information to be useful to the VK's, which is assuming I have any desire to assist them in stealing the wand. As none were particularly on my good side at the moment (but when is anybody), I had no want to help them with their plan currently. I was occupied with giving myself a migraine plotting how to increase my influence in Auradon to help them in an inconvenient revenge scheme.

Honestly, it was obvious Maleficent never actually considered giving a runt like me any power in her so-called 'New World'. I can recognize a ploy when I see one. That fairy doesn't seem to realize she's not the only master manipulator on the isle.

Caught up in my thoughts as I was, I did not notice the figure waiting in front of my room until I heard a small startled noise, which caused my eyes to automatically dart to a sheepish Prince Benjamin. "Ah, sorry, is this a bad time for a tour?" It seems I forgot to factor in a certain variable into my plans. "Certainly not your highness, it would be my pleasure."

Perfect.

 **Author's Note: I hope you liked this new chapter, let me tell you, writer's block is the worst. I spent two hours on like five sentence, then entirely redid them in thirty minutes. Anyway, comment any suggestions or constructive criticism, or favorite and follow the story if you particularly want to. No pressure. Have a nice day/night!**


	4. Chapter Four: Befriending the Prince

Disclaimer: As always, I do not own the Descendants franchise. I wish I did, but I don't.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Author's Note: I was given the Descendant's movies for Christmas, so I watched it with my friends. It was pretty fun, we debated the sexualities of all the characters, and I do mean all. I thought up a few new ideas, plus I got my friend to read the story. She said she likes Ulysses! Yay! That's about it, I hope you enjoy the story!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ulysses P.O.V

Prince Benjamin was a rather peculiar individual. After all, it wasn't every day that you encountered a person that was the incarnation of sunshine. From my observations, it was clear (and mildly disconcerting) that the royal genuinely believed there was good in everybody. That magnanimous behavior of his was going the be the downfall of his kingdom, and that was a siren's song to my ears.

"Over here, we have the school's cafeteria. We serve breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. I recommend you try The Grey Stuff, it's delicious!" Pay no attention to the suspiciously named dish Ulysses, don't. If you do, it will haunt you in the middle of the night, just as the precious gift of sleep is affecting you. You need to be well-rested if you're to manipulate an important political figure. "That reminds me, we should probably get some food. You must be starving!"

I am always in a constant state of hunger. On the isle, there is never enough food to be able to satiate the gnawing emptiness in the pit of my stomach. Not even the blackmail I hold over the heads of everybody is able to get me a full meal every day. Some nights I have to deal with what seems to be the ocean storming inside me. Needless to say, yes, I was starving. All the time.

"I heard that they're serving sushi today, which, while it isn't my personal favorite, I think you'll enjoy it." How precious of you to assume that I would enjoy a food after only knowing me for a few hours. Please, continue with your assumptions. It's one of my favorite pastimes to crush them into the seabed until they're fully enveloped into the sand, never to be seen again.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ulysses P.O.V

We were seated at a table in a discrete corner of the cafeteria, with our nearly finished plates of food in front of us. A majority of the student body had already entered the room, then scuttled off to another location. When we first arrived, Prince Benjamin had insisted on placing a diverse assortment of food onto my plate, insisting it couldn't hurt to have a courtesty helping of everything. Most importantly, a good portion of my plate was filled with sushi.

After sampling the sushi, I was displeased over the fact that I did indeed find the sushi palatable. The quality of the fish far exceeded the fried mackerel scraps at Ursula's Fish and Chips. Unlike the raw fish I've eaten on the isle due to the lack of a heat source, the tuna was pleasant. The highlight of the meal though, was Ben's facial expression when he ate the dish. It was quite entertaining as he looked as though he had just swallowed a cursed frog prince.

Although I tried to withhold it, a small chuckle managed to escape from my traitorous mouth. Not a chortle, nor a giggle, just a quiet and suppressed laugh. Which was why it was surprising when Prince Benjamin gave me a beaming smile, then started to dissolve into laughter. The corners of his eyes crinkled, and his pearly white teeth were displayed for the world to see, parted just slightly to let out the brightest laugh I had ever heard.

Compared to the cackles and snickers I constantly heard on the isle, his laugh was more...pure. Innocent. Not even the children on the isle were able to sound as incorrupt. His laughing had attracted quite a few heads, but once their gaze landed upon my being they quickly averted their eyes. How quaint.

Eventually, Prince Benjamin's laughing subsided, and he wiped away the small tears that had formed in the corners of his eyes. A few small tremors still traveled throughout the entirety of his body, but after a few seconds they settled down. His hazelnut eyes twinkled with delight, and the sides of his mouth were still upturned. Despite the fact that he seemed to be perfectly fine, I was slightly perturbed by his strange outburst.

"Forgive me for asking, but are you alright? That came out of the blue." Yes, that was relatively more polite and socially acceptable than saying 'what in the seven seas is wrong with you'. Excellent thinking Ulysses, continue with your meager charming abilities.

"Oh, sorry! It's been such a long time since I just let go and laughed, when I started I just couldn't stop! I'm sorry if I frightened you or anything." Me? Frightened? The last time I was frightened it was because the Queen of Hearts was teaching croquet to my class, and if you so much as sneezed, she ordered to have your head detached from your neck. Better recognized as her saying, 'Off with his/her head!"

At least after the whole ordeal her husband gave us some bitter tea and stale biscuits, as he reasoned we were helping her blow off some steam in a safe and controlled environment. There is no way her attempting to dismember teenagers at school was safe, and nobody could ever control that women. Nobody.

"So, how are you liking Auradon so far? Do you like it? I hope you're comfortable in your new room, but if you do have any complaints, you can tell me right now. I'll try my best to help you!" Quite the people pleaser we have here. If he kept this up I might actually start to feel guilty over using him to further my own means.

Who am I trying to fool, guilt is a foreign emotion to me. There was a couple of things I was still curious about though.

"Everything here is satisfactory. I do have two questions though." Immediately, his his eyebrows were scrunching together in distress, and his cordial grin turned into a worried frown. Why did his entire demeanor change so drastically? All I said was that I had a few questions. Stopping my confusion from flooding onto my face, I kept my tone even and voiced my thoughts.

"I was wondering if the school has a library, and also if they already have our schedules printed out. Tomorrow would be troublesome without knowing which classes we needed to attend, and at what time." My opinion of the school would greatly increase if they had a library here. Dragon Hall had been severely lacking in novels that were written to challenge and ensnare the mind. There was only so much a student could do with books containing spells and curses on an island with no magic. My opinion of the school would greatly increase if they didn't have that in common with the Isle.

"Oh, yeah! The library is located in a separate building, to the left of the rose gardens. Currently, we have over two million books. My mom ensures that all of the textbooks, dictionaries, etc. are up to date." Well, whoever thought I would ever feel thankful for the existence of a person that was part of the reason that villains, and thereby myself, were banished onto an isolated island.

"I don't know if they've got your schedules printed out already, but if you want, I could check tonight, and get back to you in the morning. " After flashing me a dazzling smile, he looked at me with the most expectant puppy eyes I have ever seen. What in the seven seas could he possibly want? "That would be quite delightful. Thank you."

After hearing my gratitude, his entire body seemed to relax from its formerly tense position, over what, I have no idea.

We resumed eating the rest of our food, and while I was poking the suspicious pile of grey goo on my plate with my fork, I couldn't help but notice that Prince Benjamin kept glancing at me not-so-discretely from over his food. Of course, I found this rather concerning so the next time he peaked at me I looked straight into his eyes. A meek smile overtook his face while a mildly alarming shade of pink bloomed on his face.

Not quite knowing what to do, I decided to reciprocate the grin, in what I hoped held the semblance of a smile and not my usual baring of teeth. Prince Benjamin's eyes widened in what I assumed was from surprise, and he quickly ducked his head down, his face becoming a mild scarlet. A strange and somewhat stilted silence overtook our small table.

Perhaps if I had had a normal-esque childhood, I would know how to dispel this peculiar atmosphere, but alas, I didn't. Obviously, the cause of our current situation was because I smiled. It must either be unusual to reciprocate a smile (which is most definitely not true for Auradon), or my smile was not pleasant seeming. I would blame it on a lack of practice, but I have never had the need to reveal my teeth by stretching my lips up to show that I bear no ill will. Usually, because I do, bear the ill will.

Ugh, mortals were so complicated, sending mixed signals and whatnot. When I am showing off my teeth it is to threaten another, not show that I am companions with them. As revealing sharp canines that can and will tear your throat out are not a friendly action. This plan of mine was slowly revealing itself to be more challenging than I first expected. I need more experience with subtle human cues and actions. Too bad my practice subject was the prince and soon-to-be king of Auradon. Perhaps I should have slowly worked up the chain of power, but I would detest having to interact with that pompous pink princess.

The sound of a person clearing their throat caught my attention and as I looked towards the source of the sound, I saw a girl in a familiar pink and blue dress. Well, well, well. As the mortal saying goes, 'speak of the devil and he doth appear'. Princess Audrey was standing with her tanned hands on her hips, and she looked none too pleased.

"Benny-boo, what are you doing here?"

Author's Note: Yay! Cliffhangers! Basically, I felt that I had written enough and that if I wrote anymore it would feel too long. I hope you like my approach to romance, as I believe that they should at least spend more time getting to know one another before they actually fall in love. But making original scenes is so hard! Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, and if you want to you can follow and favorite this story! Bye-bye!


	5. Chapter Five: Prissy Pink Princess

Disclaimer: I still do not own Descendants or any of the pictures I use. Obviously.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Author's Note: Looking back on the other chapter, I probably could have written more, as it was shorter in comparison to the others, but I felt that it was being dragged out. Anyways, I hope that you guys are liking how I'm having Ben and Ulysses interact more since I want them to build an actual connection before they get into a relationship, as I have made Ulysses demisexual/demiromantic (a person who does not experience sexual/romantic attraction unless they form an emotional connection). So I hope you enjoy the story!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ulysses P.O.V.

Princess Audrey (as she so constantly reminded us) is a creature not unlike that of a tongue-eating louse. The louse's ability to make a tongue fall off, and replace the fallen muscle with itself is reminiscent of her constant interruptions of Prince Benjamin to mention her royal status making Prince Benjamin hold his tongue. However, if she decides to brag even more about her 'royal blood' I swear to Poseidon that that special blood of hers will be spilled on these marble tiles.

Or perhaps I could attempt to lower Prince Benjamin's opinion of her so that she no longer has the claim of being a king's girlfriend, which will surely infuriate or make her desolate. I've never sabotaged a relationship before (if you didn't count Mal and Harry's relationship, which had already been slowly ticking down the drain), but I believe it will be quite easy if Prince Benjamin's reactions towards her words are anything to go by. It will at least be a small retribution for Evie, who I painfully owe a small debt to for crafting my favorite (and only) scarf. The piece of clothing is both tasteful and keeps me warm, as thanks to my parentage it is more difficult for me than an average human to retain my body heat.

All I needed was to subtly provoke Audrey into releasing that self-absorbed spoiled little brat I knew she 'tried' to hide. She's already done a splendid job on her own, but I know she could be a bit better, or worse, than that.

"Princess Audrey, what a pleasure to see you here." Her bright pink lips dropped open slightly, betraying her shock, but her face quickly furrowed back into anger and confusion. Aw, apparently, it is a surprise that a 'scoundrel villain' from the isle has manners. Doesn't she know the saying, 'you catch more fish with worms than a hook'?

"Hi, Audrey! I just thought that I could show Ulysses the cafeteria since this morning I didn't have enough time. Y'know, help him get to know his surroundings better." I suppose I did learn a bit more. If only about the library's location and the cafeteria meal hours.

"You're so adorable Benny-boo! But you could have just asked Doug to help him out like I said before! Remember? I even said if you need any help, just ask Doug!" Yes, I do remember that part, but not as well as the constant reminders of her 'royal blood', and how it went back centuries. Poseidon this girl was like sand in a clamshell. Too bad I couldn't just wrap her in a pearlescent material to stop her irritating manners.

"If it's too much of a bother, I could just retire to my room." Carefully, I extracted my legs from under the table and stood up to leave. I had already interacted with Prince Benjamin quite enough for the day, and my stomach was pleasantly filled. There were always more opportunities to socialize with the soon-to-be king, and I was not in the mood to put up with Audrey (nor would I ever be).

"That would be great!"

"I could walk you back if you want?"

Their voices clashed with each other, as did their ideas. Audrey's glossy pink lips lifted into a sickly sweet smile, while her eyelids twitched minutely. Prince Benjamin, who had also quickly gotten up from the table, nonetheless, still had a gentle smile on his face, and his whole demeanor was of a relaxed and cuddly guppy. The contrast in expressions almost made me want to laugh.

"But Benny-boo, I was hoping we could go on a date together to celebrate your accomplishments. We won't have enough time if you walk him all the way to the dorms." Her tan arms wrapped demurely around Prince Benjamin's right, and an obviously fake pout overtook her face. Her eyes had widened considerably and they shimmered as if they were withholding an ocean in their depths. If I weren't such a manipulative person myself, I might have seen her act as what she portrayed it to be. However, I was too used to the children on the isle giving the same innocent looks, hoping for some sympathy so they could stab you and steal your belongings. While I was immune to the look, Ben, however, was not.

"Um, I'm sorry Ulysses. Can you walk to your dorms by yourself? I'm really sorry about this. " His unoccupied hand rubbed the back of his neck which had turned a subtle shade of red, and his eyes were unable to meet mine. He did seem awfully regretful to not be around a person he just met. Yes, it was best I save any more bonding moments (A/N: We had a bonding moment, I cradled you in my arms! -Keith Kogane) for tomorrow. If I stayed any longer, Audrey would without a doubt become even more of a pufferfish, prickly and full of air. It would be beneficial if I dealt with her later while she was not such a substantial influence on Prince Benjamin.

"It is quite alright. I hope to see you in the morning, Prince Benjamin." I threw my plate and the inedible scraps from my meal away into the nearby trash bin and started to take a few steps away from the couple but before I could step any further away, Prince Benjamin let out a small bark of laughter, and Audrey's smug look became slightly concerned at her boyfriend's outburst.

"You don't have to call me Prince Benjamin, Ulysses. We're friends now, you can just call me Ben! Prince Benjamin is too formal, it makes me feel old." Once more he flashed a dazzling smile, and I felt a mischievous smirk creep onto my face. Old, he said?

I walked back to the two royals and lowered myself in a kneel reminiscent of a soldier being knighted.

"Why my deepest apologies your highness. I meant no offense when my mouth uttered the name, 'Prince Benjamin'. With your age, I assumed you would prefer your hard-earned title, of Prince Benjamin." A wide smirk had flourished on my face and had grown even wider at the redness that had once more made its appearance on Prince Benjamin's face. "I shall retire for the night and reflect on my mistakes made towards his soon-to-be majesty. Which I suggest Prince Benjamin do as well for it would be a pity if he were to not give his aged body some well-deserved rest."

As I was about to fully stand up, a warm hand clasped my right hand that had been placed over my heart and helped me rise to my feet. The owner of the hand was the one and only Prince Benjamin, who's blinding white teeth were now on full display. I expected his hand to dislodge from my own, but instead, he grabbed my remaining hand and pulled both close to his chest. It was quite the odd position we were in, but I suppose it is a friendly one if his carefree expression was anything to go by.

It was still slightly nerve-wracking to have someone so close to my body. The warmth of Prince Benjamin was quite nice, although I would never admit that to anyone. That would be quite embarrassing.

"Of course, of course. Where would I ever be without mon fidèle chevalier? Vous êtes trop gentil. Dans ma vieillesse, I am téméraire." (A/N: I just Google to translate English to French, but he said, "Where would I ever be without my faithful knight? You are too kind. In my old age, I am reckless." Please correct me if I'm wrong!) From my past encounters with Gaston where he was trying (and failing) to flirt with a woman, Prince Benjamin was speaking French. How charming. Perhaps I could use this to somehow raise my advantage. With a plus of having something to stimulate my brain.

Slowly, I retracted my now warm hands from his and flashed what I hope identified as a smile. By the gods, I was getting a lot of practice in this kingdom.

"My, you are quite talented aren't you Prince Benjamin, wherever did you learn to speak French so fluently?" This could be a wonderful opportunity to spend more time with Prince Benjamin, hopefully away from the jealous harpy whose face was starting to resemble that of a red meidiland rose, an exquisite shade that I was taking great joy in.

"Oh, I didn't take a class or anything. My mom taught it to me when I was younger since it's her first language. It's always good to remember your roots in some ways." Ah, that would make sense. I almost forgot that Queen Belle was originally from a quaint, provincial little French village.

"If you wanted to though, I could teach you in my spare time? Only if you wanted to, of course, you don't have to if you don't want to." Well, it appears that Prince Benjamin was becoming quite the accommodator to my plans. This was almost too easy. I never knew royals could be so easy to manipulate. No wonder Ursula was able to make so many deals at her peak of villainy. There's no knowing what I could do with a royal as my ally, especially one so high up.

"Um, Benny-boo," Audrey interjected while clinging onto his arm, "why have you never offered to teach me, French? What better way to spend time with your beautiful girlfriend than to teach her the language of love?" My goodness, her whining was starting to sound like that of a squawking seagull. Prince Benjamin's eyebrows tilted downwards in confusion, and his lips pulled themselves into a frown.

"But Audrey, you took a French class last year and got an A. Besides, I remember my mom taught you a bit too whenever you visited. In fact, you've even corrected my pronunciation before! Why would you ever need my help, you speak French splendidly!" The angry flush of red that had been on Audrey's face before had turned into a proud and flustered shade of pink instead. How disappointing. I quite liked her better when she was frustrated. Now she looks like the shark that ate the seal (A/N: ocean version of the cat that ate the canary).

"Aww, you're so embarrassing Benny-boo! But maybe instead of you teaching me French, I can give you some...private lessons. Just the two of us." Something about the way she said that reminded me of the Evil Queen whenever she was trying to haggle with a male vendor. It usually never worked of course, but there was something very similar about it. Maybe it was the way she attempted to flutter her eyelashes, or puckered her shiny glossed lips, jutting her hip out oh so slightly.

All in all, it was very disturbing and unappealing. It was no wonder that the Evil Queen never managed to convince those male vendors to give her the item at a reduced price. The sight was just too repugnant.

"That sounds like a great idea! You could teach Ulysses!" What.

"I've been getting pretty busy with both tourney and preparing for my coronation ceremony, so I wouldn't have been able to give him as thorough a lesson as I would've wanted anyway. But you could teach him instead!" Did-did he? Wait, wait, wait. No. Could he-no way-he really? How was he not getting- was it really possible for a person to be this oblivious? She was obviously making a proposition for alone time as a couple. I would most certainly not like to partake in any such activity with her. I could tell the feelings were mutual by the way Audrey's face had taken on the same whiteness as a whalebone.

"O-oh Benny-boo, you never cease to a-amaze me! But the offer-the offer was only for you! Not," her face scrunched up in disgust and she gestured towards me with her hand," him." How rude. She wasn't even trying to hide her displeasure towards my existence. Wonderful. This could be an opportunity to distance her from Prince Benjamin, and I wouldn't even have to do anything! How delightful!

"Well, why don't you wanna teach Ulysses? I'm sure you two would get along just fine. And he seems like a quick learner so he wouldn't take up too much of your time, as I know you have cheerleading practice. If you want we could also split up the lessons." I am right here. Not even a meter away from you two. Honestly.

"That's not the issue Benjamin!" Audrey had a brief deer in the headlights moment when Prince Benjamin looked at her in a suspicious but questioning way, but then recovered quickly.

"You're not the only one stressed from making preparations for your coronation! I have to get the perfect dress that looks elegant but not overly extravagant and also find matching shoes that are comfortable enough to stand in for hours time, make time to hire a person to do my hair and makeup and do a trial, plus get a mani and a pedi! If I added anything else to my schedule it could make me not have enough time for my skincare routine and I want to be glowing at the coronation! It would be embarrassing if I didn't look my best, especially as I'll definitely be on the camera, being your girlfriend and all. I don't have enough time to teach someone like him!"

Nice save princess. Although I didn't know one needed to do so much preparation for a simple coronation. I can only imagine how stressed Evie would be if she were to attend the coronation. Including the fact that she would most likely try to design outfits for the entire group. Who knew there was so much pressure on a female to look perfect for a one-time event.

As much as I didn't want to, I felt a slight amount of respect for Audrey. Although she still wasn't able to hide her dislike of me. Or rather, people like me. Children of villains.

At least she finally didn't use that ridiculous pet name. A name of that type is more suited for a sea pony or even a catfish, not a boyfriend. It has a demeaning feel to it, and besides, nobody would want to be called such a childish name. Similar to how my darling sister detests the name, 'Shrimpy', and I suppose her wonderful nickname for me, 'Useless Ulysses'. Aah, but just remembering how she received her isle wide title almost brings a smile to my face. Such wonderful times.

"I guess you are too busy. Well, I suppose I could just teach Ulysses myself! Also, I'm sure that my mom could offer you some help in choosing a dress and heels. I'm sure she would love to spend more time with you!" I've barely known her and I know I would not want to spend any time with Audrey. Why in the seven seas would anybody want to actually breathe the same air as her for an extended period of time? It's the overpowering scent of sickeningly sweet flowers and numerous other fruits!

"That sounds great! Maybe we could do a spa day, or even get our nails done together! We'll discuss it over the phone, or over dinner." Her perfectly painted fingernails were tapping her chin in thought but stopped abruptly. "Which reminds me. We still need to go on our date! Any later and we'll have to postpone it to tomorrow and I know both of our schedules are too busy then. Now hurry up and say bye to your...friend."

"You're right, sorry for making you wait." Prince Benjamin's shoulders slumped slightly and his eyes lost a bit of their shine. "I'm still sorry for cutting our tour short, but I'll try to see what I can do about your schedule. Even if I don't get it though, I will still try to visit you in the morning. To help you out of course, unless you don't want it." How accommodating could one person be? This was starting to border on ridiculous.

"It's quite alri-"

Audrey interrupted me by grasping Prince Benja-no, Ben's hand and hurriedly walking away from the table, without even making a backward glance. While they were walking away, I could hear Audrey state, "Okay, we should really get going Benny-boo. Don't want to be late for our reservation!" Excuse you, I was talking. Ben turned his head towards me and with an apologetic look on his face, mouthed, 'sorry', then turned back to his rushing girlfriend.

Since they had left in such a hurry, Ben hadn't had time to throw away his trash. Oh well. Someone else could solve that. I had other problems to deal with.

More particularly the only daughter of the famed Sleeping Beauty.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Author's Note: I hope you liked the latest chapter! If you find any mistakes in spelling or grammar, please message me! I also adore any constructive criticism, so feel free to comment, or comment if you just feel like it. Anyway, please favorite and follow this story if you liked it! I hope I didn't make Ulysses too flirty because I was going more for teasing but obliviously flirting. It's getting late though, so goodnight, and if it's not night, good day to you!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


	6. Chapter Six: Complications in Company

Disclaimer: I do not own Descendants in any way or even the pictures used to make the collage of Ulysses. Unfortunately.

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **Author's Note: I hope you guys enjoyed the last chapter, it was pretty fun for me to write Audrey! I tried my best to not get anyone to OOC, but if I failed, please tell me and where! I love constructive criticism! Anyway, enjoy the story!**

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Ulysses P.O.V

When I finally arrived back at my room I was greeted by the sight of four very frustrated and disappointed teenagers (*cough*children*cough*) lingering in front of the door to my room. More specifically my fellow villain spawn. How wonderful. From the scowls and glares, they were directing my way I could only assume that they had somehow gotten into trouble (and on the first day too, honestly they were absolutely clueless on how to construct a subtle plan and carry it out).

"Where were you," Mal growled out, her emerald eyes flashing dangerously and her nails digging scarlet crescents into her hands. Evie was right behind Mal biting her no longer perfectly painted lips nervously, a sight her mother would have squawked at, but as she wasn't here, was unable to stop Evie from further ruining her pristine image. Carlos was looking a tad bit more pitiful than usual, trying to nonchalantly scuff his shoes on the carpet of the hallway. Jay was the furthest back, looking uncharacteristically ashamed of himself, his long hair acting like a curtain in front of his face, making a natural wall between him and the world. What in the seven seas had these four been swimming up to while I had been gone?

"I was starting to develop my connections to the people in Auradon through the crown prince. Now may I ask why all four of you are acting as if the tide dragged away your sandcastle? We haven't even been a full day at Auradon and it seems as if you four have already made a tsunami of things." At my words, the entire group's aura darkened, while a few wisps of smoke seemed to escape from Mal's nose.

"Oh, I don't know? We were trying to accomplish our mission? The whole reason we came here was to steal the magic wand, and make our parent's proud! And you were off who knows where gallivanting with a bunch of princes and princesses! We're not here to sip tea and make friends, we're here to take over the kingdom and make every royal's life miserable."

Throughout her rant, Mal had steadily crept closer and closer to me until the toes of her feet were touching my own, and her pointer finger began to jab my chest accusingly. "We're villains, not some heroes who prance in the meadow with a bunch of fairies! Get with the program runt! At this point, you're exactly what Shrimpy always calls you. Useless."

I heard a small gasp from behind Mal, but my attention was solely on the violet-haired female in front of me. A smirk that felt almost painful to hold was painted across my face, and I felt my hands tremble slightly. In anger or pain, I didn't know, nor did I care. This little enchantress thought she was better than me, did she? Let's see if that impression lasted after I was through with her.

"How curious. You seem to be under the belief that I'm here to 'make my parent proud'? That I actually want to be here and interact with dozens of fools to establish a network I already have on the isle? I expected the daughter of Maleficent to actually be able to use her brain, but it appears I was mistaken." Ah, a flinch. How exquisite! The knife has been plunged in. Let's see if I can give it a few twists.

"And by the lack of a magic wand, it seems that you also lack the common sense to make an actual plan, not to mention shouting it out to an entire corridor full of so-called heroes. Did you actually think that you could steal a powerful artifact without careful planning, the day that we arrived? You are nothing but a naive and dim-witted girl desperate for her mother's approval." This time, Mal took a few stumbling steps back, shock written clear as a tide pool on her face. When my smirk widened, it didn't feel as terrible as it did before to keep it on.

"Just because your mother is the ruler of the isle, you instantly assume that makes you better than me, the 'runt' as you so eloquently put it. Your mother is the one with power, not you. I gained my power on the isle through my own means, not by using any others, let alone my mother's. Besides, I stopped seeking her approval years ago, the moment she decided I was 'useless' and stopped being my mother, although I highly doubt she ever was. I suggest you do the same if you ever want to escape from your own mother's shadow. It's better to think for yourself instead of just mindlessly obeying. Otherwise, you're just another incompetent minion who can't find a baby for 16 years."

Hmm, although I had started with the intention to harm Mal, it seemed I had ended up giving the fairy bait for thought. However, with how slow-witted she has now revealed herself to be capable of, who knows if she will be able to interpret the advice for what it is.

"Now, if you are quite done trying to place guilt on me for a blame game that was only caused by your own foolishness, I bid you all an unrestful night. I expect to see you all tomorrow for school, wouldn't want to blow your cover again, now would you," a pointed glare was directed at all four teens in front of me, "after all, wouldn't want to make your parents disappointed in their babies."

Both Jay and Mal tensed up, hands balled up at their sides and teeth visibly clenched, they both reared up like serpents ready to strike at their prey, but Evie and Carlos held them back before they could do anything foolish.

How quaint. What a lovely friendship these four had.

Without sparing another glance, I ambled over to my room, unlocked the door, and went inside. I would probably need to put a few extra precautions when it came to protecting my room from now on. Though it would likely prove fruitless against them if they actually tried.

Oh well, it's not like I would ever leave anything important in my room. Or that I would be spending much time in it either. Why sleep when one had constant work to get done? Nevermind the fact that whenever I closed my eyes, an ocean seemed to swirl around in my mind's eye, hardly giving me a drop of sleep.

Now, in what ways should I try to separate Ben from Audrey's sickly sweet influence?

I started to pace around my room, notebook and pen in hand, trying to think out a plan to get Ben to spend less time with Audrey. In a short amount of time, I started to say my thoughts out loud.

"Perhaps I could try and encourage some unsavory rumors? No, no, I don't have enough connections, and Ben would likely not believe me if I told him. Then maybe I could..."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Time Skip xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ulysses P.O.V.

I was having a very peculiar dream about the perils of living life as a squirrel (A/N: Ella Enchanted reference!) when I was awoken by a loud knocking on the door to my room, which startled me quite badly as I did not recognize my surroundings for a good ten seconds. The bed had been much too soft compared to my former thin cot, so I had ended up sleeping on the carpet. My sleep deprived self was too lazy to change into another set of clothes, so I had just slipped out of my clothes and grabbed a blanket to cover my boxer clad self. As such, I woke up rather cold, which was not unlike how it usually was on the isle.

According to the clock next to the bed, the person at my door was waking me up at 6: 50 a.m.

How pleasant, I was getting a below average 5 hours of sleep today, it seemed. After spending a few hours trying to configure a plan to deal with Audrey, I had decided to crawl into the shell at 2 in the morning. Needless to say, I was not functioning at the best quality I was hoping to be for the first day of school in Auradon.

Mind still muddled with polluted water, I groggily pulled the single blanket around my shoulders and approached the door to open it, only to be greeted by the beaming face of Ben. With a blanket wrapped childishly around me and my hair, no doubt looking as wild as a jellyfish's tentacles.

Ben quickly eyed my disgruntled form, lingering on my chest, and upon meeting my eyes, hastily averted them to the left. I directed a questioning stare at Ben, but he didn't say anything, only started picking at his hands and fidgeting from side to side. Only after I cleared my throat, did a quick flush of red appear on his face and he started to talk.

"Um, good-good morning Ulysses. I, just, I uh, I brought you your schedule," he held out his hand that was indeed holding a schedule, then continued with his stammering after I took it, causing the blanket to slide down a little. "You know, the one you-the one you asked me to-to bring you. Yesterday. At dinner. Cause I said I'd bring it." Throughout the entire one-sided conversation, Ben hadn't made eye contact with me even once. Perhaps he was distracted by something...now that I think about it, I should probably not be half-naked in front of the crown prince.

Self-consciously, I tugged the blanket around my upper torso, once again drawing Ben's eyes to my chest, which now caused my own cheeks to warm from embarrassment.

"Yes, thank you...I will just...go get dressed now if you'll excuse me." Although I said I would leave, I awkwardly stood still in the door frame for a few seconds while waiting for Ben to respond, when he finally got out of his daze and stammered out a reply.

"Uh, y-yeah! Of course! I'll just, uh, I'll just wait out here. For you. If that is, um, if that's alright with you, of course." With a swift nod of my head, I closed the door and promptly sunk down onto the ground, rethinking my life's choices.

I took a few minutes to mourn the death of a substantial amount of dignity I never thought I would lose, and then I started to get clothed. I slipped on a new pair of underwear, dug out a pair of white socks from my bag, threw on a long-sleeved linen shirt, tugged some slightly baggy black pants on, got into a simple black leather jacket, clipped on a silver octopus necklace, and finally tied my light blue scarf onto my neck for some much-needed warmth. A quick brush of my hair and a quick swipe of deodorant, and I was done.

Before I exited the room, I packed my journal and pen into my bag along with my other notebooks and pulled on a pair of scuffed black suede boots.

The Ben I opened the door to appeared to be much calmer, but I could still detect a faint flushness on his neck that grew slightly at my appearance. I can only hope this event shall soon be forgotten by both of us very soon. How very ironic it would be even I, the one prone to using blackmail would become a victim of it too.

We started to walk in silence to the cafeteria, an awkward air surrounding the two of us when Ben finally decided to break the silence with a befuddling question.

"Soooo, have you thought of joining the tourney team? It seems like you have the musc-athletic ability to be a part of the school's team." What in the name of Poseidon was tourney?

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **Author's Note: Yay! I finished another chapter! I hope you guys liked this one, and if you did I hope you'll favorite or follow this story. Also, if you notice any errors or have any constructive criticism, please say so in the comments, cheers!**

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


End file.
